About this project

Play the Alpha in the link below!

What is GUTS?

GUTS is an independently developed Rogue-like/Tactics mashup for the PC, Mac & Linux, set to be released in 2013.

We've focused the past few months on getting the fundamentals of the game up and running in an early Alpha, so you can judge for yourself whether or not you think the game shows any promise:

We need your help to take this game across the finish line. Please donate! Without you, this game will never see the light of day, and another perforation in the firmament of games will be closed.

The Story

"Humanity stands on the precipice of oblivion. Inched ever closer by the forces of darkness."

You'll assume the role of a young orphan. A boy whose paternity was forged in a furnace of suffering. Join him as he rises up with a full heart to avenge his sundered home world, reclaiming that which has been lost for centuries - or die trying.

Enter the innumerable armies of the enigmatic Dark Pilgrim, determined to collect the taxes levied upon our souls. Will you join our hero on his journey? Do you have what it takes?

Features

PC, Mac and Linux release, no DRM!

Be a hero! Cut through hordes of enemies while the distant screams of electric guitars glorify your power!*

One life. Die and you're dead, kid. The stakes are high.

Different every time you play. Items and encounters will be random for maximum replay value.

Skippable dialogue and cut-scenes. Normally this goes without saying, but we're not living in normal times.

Efficient. GUTS will have very low system requirements. We know what it's like not to be able to afford a shiny new computer.

Over twenty different monsters. Each with unique game-changing abilities. For example: Bats clone themselves on attack, overwhelming you quickly!

Simple to play. The entire game will be playable with just the mouse.

Powerful, unique items. There will be rare items which change how you play significantly, like the Silk Sash, which grants the player permanent counter-attack.

Free high-fives for life. If you donate to GUTS, that is.

About us!

Big Men Games is a small studio founded by Chris Haga and Steve Turner. We are joined by Michael Wachell, who is our Music and Sound designer. We're all nerds.

We also love games. Games are exercise for the imagination, they're dream machines. We gaze into these highly complex, mechanical kaleidoscopes and they transform the world for us. This new landscape grants us purpose, makes us heroes, and gives out reprieve to weary souls.

It's our job as artists to ease the journey of life, to lighten the burden of reality, if only for a moment. This is the yardstick we measure ourselves against.

Chris Haga grew up drawing, playing games and daydreaming. Not much has changed really.

Blizzard Entertainment hired Haga directly
out of college, onto Diablo III. He quickly became an instrumental
person on the team, contributing heavily to Combat, Skills and Runes.
He worked at Blizzard for eight years, resigning in December '11 to
start Big Men Games with Steve.

Steve Turner is a Computer Science Graduate from the University of Texas at
Austin. Steve is extremely passionate about programming and game
development. He spent the last several years developing prototypes and
games on his own before teaming up with Chris to make Guts.

Michael Wachell is permanently hardwired into all forms of media, but has a
particular penchant for video games. Michael loves to tell stories through
sound and music, be it with a dense orchestral score, or a glitchy
electronic track.

For the past two years Michael has created music for film and
television. Currently,
Michael is scoring a feature horror film: Craters of the Moon. Michael
often harmonizes with inanimate objects like refrigerators and fire truck
sirens. Michael lives in Los Angeles.

Developer Preview

The Rewards!

The Poster

At the $60 reward tier, you'll receive an 11x17 GUTS poster, signed by Haga and Steve and all previous rewards!

The T-Shirt

At the $100 tier, you'll receive a special screen printed t-Shirt and all previous rewards! We have sizes available up to 3xl.

Name an Item or Monster

At the $350 reward tier, you can name an Item or Monster in the game! You also get all previous rewards!

(Note: We won't let you pick an offensive or racist name, please don't grief us :D)

Custom Digital Portrait & Custom Mnemonic

At the $1,000 tier, you'll receive a 16bit style Digital Portrait painted by Haga and a custom Mnemonic like you hear for the Big Men Games intro! You'll also get all previous rewards!

Original, Framed GUTS Concept Art

At the $2,000 reward tier, you'll get 3in x 4in framed piece of original GUTS concept art, drawn in pencil by Haga! Also includes all previous reward tiers!

(Note: The other three drawings aren't finished yet, and the frame in the picture below is just an example.)

Executive Producer Tier

At the $5,000 reward tier, you'll earn the Executive Producer title for GUTS, with your name and custom 16-bit portrait side-by-side with ours in the credits! If that isn't cool enough, Michael is also going to write a custom song for you! Also includes all previous reward tiers!

Production and Funding Details

We've had the game in production for about five months to get it to the state it's in now. The first few months on any game project is usually spent attempting to find the "soul" of the game, which we think we have, and to develop core technology.

We've based our $60,000 funding target on heuristic analysis of our current production rate; we're confident the game will be finished with about seven more months of development.

If, by some miracle, we were able to get over $95,000 in funding, we could spend eleven months on the project and make it much more polished. Time is a critical factor for making games, especially since we use a stochastic process for development.

Let's say the world goes crazy and gives us over $125,000 in funding. This would allow us to have office space, desks, computers and would give us more room for hiring additional contractors to help out with the production. This would greatly expand the scope and quality of the game.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

Executive producer title & and a custom song composed by Michael Wachell! You'll also receive a special thanks in our credits, with your portrait featured next to ours! Includes all previous rewards. Please add $25 for shipping if you're outside the US & Canada.